Union exclusive representation and the ensuing process of collective bargaining gives
the union the right to negotiate with management the terms and conditions of employment.
Employers are required by law to meet with the union and discuss its proposals in good
faith, as long as the proposals are among the mandatory subjects of bargaining.

Mandatory subjects of bargaining are those labor topics that by law must be negotiated
by labor and management when insisted upon by either party. In addition to wages and hours
of work, mandatory subjects include fringe benefit programs, seniority, discipline and
other issues related to employment. Union security arrangements are among mandated
subjects. 17

Unions customarily seek some form of guarantee that employees either become full union
members or pay some representation fee (usually the equivalent of membership dues and
initiation fees) to the union. Under the standard of good faith bargaining, employers will
usually agree to these terms.18 Employers may consider union security
provisions to be a no-cost issue item that can be traded for economic concessions of
greater apparent value to the employer. The employer sometimes believes its business might
be injured by rejecting the union demand. In either case, the employer becomes the
enforcer for the payment of compulsory union dues because it will discharge an employee at
the unions request for a workers failure to pay dues according to the
agreement. An employer can be charged with an unfair labor practice if it complies with a
union request to discharge an employee, if the employer has reason to believe that the
union failed to follow proper notification and fee objection procedures.

Bargaining in good faith requires the parties to meet at reasonable and convenient
times; to meet with minds open to persuasion and a view toward reaching agreement; avoid
"surface" bargaining, which occurs when parties present proposals on a
"take it or leave it" basis; 19 and taking no employer actions
designed to weaken the unions status as the exclusive bargaining agent while
negotiations are in progress.

"Good faith" is generally evaluated by assessing the compromises and
concessions made by the parties during the negotiating period. 20 The
employers duty includes the obligation to supply the union with information upon
request that is "relevant and necessary" to allow the union agents to bargain
intelligently and effectively. The employer is not compelled to surrender confidential or
proprietary information such as its profits and losses, but it can be required to do so if
it claims at the bargaining table that it is financially unable to meet the unions
demands.

The employers duty to bargain precludes it from taking "unilateral
action," i.e., changing the terms or conditions of employment without the
unions accession. For example, this means that the employer cannot put a wage
increase into effect until the union agrees, unless the employer has a demonstrated past
practice of granting periodic pay raises as a matter of course. The commission of an
unfair labor practice, even a technicality, is often relied on to show a lack of good
faith bargaining.

The governments subjective judgment of the content and course of collective
bargaining distinguishes this process from the principles of common law commercial
contracts.

Laws providing for exclusive representation, union security, and mandated forced
bargaining distort the American contractual system and convert it into a governmentally
sanctioned, supervised, and oftentimes coerced system that neglect the principles of
private, voluntary exchange. Allowing individual workers to withhold a portion of union
dues under the Beck decision is a minor remedy for the abuses wrought by compulsory
collective bargaining. Permitting the employee discretion to withhold dues that would
otherwise be spent on the unions political, religious or social agenda acknowledges
that there are boundaries to collective action. Beck is a recognition that there
are limits in our society as to what citizens can compelled to do: that we are a nation
dedicated to defending freedom and individual liberty.